Pastor Levi Lusko: God Sees Your Hard Work Despite Lack of Visible Progress
Just as Paul refused to view his ministry in Thessalonica as a failure, so Christians should never give up on their goals and dreams, Pastor Levi Lusko says.
Lusko, who heads the Fresh Life Church in Kalispell, Montana, used the story of Paul's ministry in 1 Thessalonians 2 in a recent sermon to show that God encourages people to never give up, and to go back to God again and again to ask for more courage.
This chapter details Paul's ministry in Thessalonica, which some may have described as a failure as the apostle was not able to preach the gospel there for long.
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Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2: "you are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believed; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children."
Lusko tells his congregation that this is a particularly inspiring verse, as Paul's ministry was under attack, but Paul did not see his time spent with the Thessalonians as a failure, nor did he give up on his ministry.
Paul's ability to persevere was due to his faith, as he repeatedly went back to God to receive more courage to continue on.
While some may think you either have the attribute of courage or not, your courage is something that needs to be replenished by God repeatedly, the rising young pastor says.
"In order for you to accomplish all that God wants to do through you, you're going to need courage [and then] get more courage," Lusko says, adding that Christians need to look to Jesus for "heart, strength [and] encouragement."
"You have to learn to be the kind of person who […] when you feel like throwing in the towel […] you go to God to give you more strength," Lusko continued. "Nothing great has ever been done without courage."
Lusko then sought to address some misconceptions about courage and fear, saying that the image of courage as being without fear is not true.
"Courage is being afraid, but knowing what to do with your fear," the pastor says.
Going back to the example of Paul in Thessalonica, Lusko says that it is natural for humans to think that because something didn't go the way they wanted it to, they feel like all of their hard work was in vain.
When something doesn't go as planned, it "will always be tempting to assess your work as being worthless," the pastor says, adding that as long as something is done in the name of Jesus, "it's not in vain even if it didn't go as you'd think it was going to go."
In God's eyes, Paul's work was seen as a "smashing success," Lusko says, because he was preaching to the Thessalonians with the right intentions and with God's plan in mind.
"Progress isn't always visible," Lusko says, encouraging everyone to just keep doing their part and know that God is in fact watching, and he doesn't view your work as being in vain.
